Gaston Planté was born on April 22, 1834 in Orthez, France. He was basically an academic scientist, first appointed as an assistant lecturer at the Conservatory of Arts and Crafts in Paris, and then as Professor of Physics at the Polytechnic Association for the Development of Popular Instruction, also in Paris. |
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In 1859, he discovered the so-called "lead-acid accumulator", familiar to us as the car battery. He is said to have come across the principle underlying the battery when he was experimenting with lead foil electrodes as an alternative to the much more costly platinum electrodes in the electrolysis of dilute sulphuric acid. On switching the current off, Planté found that current still flowed through the acid. What had happened was that while current was flowing, one of the electrodes became coated with lead oxide, PbO2, while the other retained a clean lead surface. On switching off the current, the two electrodes then provided current to the system.
Planté died in Bellevue on May 21, 1889.
